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During this warm-up your heart rate should gradually rise: it's higher than your resting heart rate, but not quite as high is it would be during the more intense portion of the exercise session. Some people don't like to/or can't stop and measure heart rate after the warm-up. A simple way to determine if your body is ready to for more intense activity is to simply feel your forehead. If it's covered with a thin fi lm of sweat, then the warm-up has been effective in increasing body temperature. I use this technique quite often when leading training sessions with groups of younger (under age 30) folks, and not only does it help me determine if they are ready for more intense exercise, but it's an opportunity to teach about the importance of the warm-up. Another point to keep in mind regarding the warm-up is to be effi cient in how you approach the training session. For example, if you are planning on a 30-minute cardio session, as well as a strength training session, then it would be more time-effi cient to per- form the cardio session fi rst, using the 30 minute cardio session as a way of warming up the body prior to the strength training session. There's nothing wrong with breaking up your cardio into dif- ferent segments as well. For example, instead of 30 minutes at a lower intensity, you could break up the cardio session into the following: • 15 minute warm-up and cardio • Strength training • 15 minute cardio — higher intensity Or , you could split the cardio session into more parts – following each cardio session with a segment of the planned strength ses- sion. This example splits the cardio and strength sessions into three parts: • 10 minute warm-up and cardio followed by upper body strength training • 10 minute cardio (more intense) followed by core (abs/low back) training • 10 minute cardio (more intense) followed by lower body strength training The fi rst cardio session of each example would actually begin with 5 minutes of lower intensity cardio — this is the warm-up. Prior to beginning the work day The physical work an arborist begins his/her day should be preceded by a warm-up. Climbers should focus on callisthenic exercises for the wrists, elbows, shoulders, back, hips, knees and ankles before climbing into the fi rst tree of the day. The tree often determines the physical intensity. That is, some trees are more physically demanding; they are more diffi cult to access and navi- gate than others, and climbing the tree as part of the warm-up, or without warming-up, may be just too intense to start with; so a proper warm-up is vital for the climber. Groundmen could benefi t from the same approach, but are likely more able to regulate their intensity than the climber. That is, if a groundman is beginning the day by loading logs or dragging brush, then they can simply choose lighter loads to begin with to allow the body the time it needs to warm-up. The warm-up is an essential part of the exercise session that www.arborage.com Arbor Age / April 2014 23 increases body temperature — don't make the mistake of stretch- ing as your sole warm-up prior to exercise. This is exactly what we do not want to do. Stretching alone does not warm the muscle, and therefore should be done at the end of the exercise session or work day because it is at this time the muscle is warm and more pliable — it will stretch easier and there will be a lower risk of in- juring the muscle or joints. In the next article, we will discuss the cool-down period. "…How 'bout we start this process by cutting those l2-footers into a bunch of 6-footers, and we'll load them fi rst. It'll be a smart way to start," I said. "Yeah, that's a good idea," he replied. John Amtmann is a professor of Applied Health Science program at Montana Tech in Butte, Mont. He works as an arborist during the summer, and can be reached via e-mail at jamtmann@mtech. edu. Quarterback for the Montana Tech Orediggers, Brian Schwarzkoph is an Applied Health Science student at Montana Tech, and is a tree worker in his spare time. He can be reached via e-mail at BWSchwarzkoph@mtech.edu. Reference: American College of Sports Medicine. (2010). ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription 8th edition. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. Hip and knee circles – 10 to the right and 10 to the left V All photos provided by John Amtmann